Sega spares from Play It! Amusements

I’ve yet to write about arcade Candy cabinets here on Arcade Blogger. A “Candy” is a western generic term for the Chinese style sit down arcade cabinets commonly found in Far East countries. Typically constructed using plastic and/or metal, these cabinets have a very distinctive style compared to their European or American counterparts, where wood was the material typically used. Candies are usually white in colour and feature sleek stylish lines.

Candies allow for games to change very easily within them, housing harnesses such as the Jamma standard. They are plain looking with limited space to advertise the game they might be running at any particular time – again unlike western cabinets, which were usually bespoke made, with marquee and artwork to suit the game.

Play It! Amusements supply Sega Amusements's customers with parts and service for Sega manufactured and 3rd party machines. They aim to dispatch on the same day and carry out repairs within 5 working days by Sega trained personnel with parts direct from the manufacturers. 

Very distinctive looking I’m sure you’ll agree. Candy cabinets became very popular in Japan from the early to mid 80s, with row upon row running games being a not uncommon site in Asian arcades. Finding one over these shores is not particularly easy, but with a bit of hunting around on forums such as the excellent Arcade Otaku website, you’ll find a flourishing community of friendly people who restore and trade these cabinets on a regular basis.

I have plans to write up a full article about the subject and various styles of Candy cabinet at some point in the future, but for now, I came across this great story about a Chinese Arcade find involving Candies and wanted to share it here.

After getting a taste for Chinese culture during a brief student exchange visit, US national Alex Meyers decided to relocate to china in 2006. Initially Alex thought his visit would be short term, maybe a year or so, but that soon became permanent, and he now has a successful career in the land of the rising sun.

For more details: Spare parts for ticket redemption games